U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, along with seven other U.S. government agencies, launched the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative.

The coordinated effort was developed through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Working Group on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, which includes representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Energy, State and Agriculture; the Export-Import Bank of the United States; the Overseas Private Investment Corp.; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Through the initiative, the U.S. government will support renewable energy and energy-efficiency (RE&EE) exporters by offering new financing products, enhancing market access, increasing trade promotion and improving the delivery of export promotion services to current and future RE&EE companies.

“The initiative lays the foundation necessary to help U.S. renewable energy and energy-efficiency companies take better advantage of current market opportunities,” Locke said. “It also positions federal government programs to better support U.S. global competitiveness in these sectors over the long run.”

Energy is a $6 trillion global market, and clean energy is the fastest growing sector.

The initiative comes on the heels of the formation of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee. The committee will advise Locke on the development and implementation of programs and policies that will help to expand the competitiveness of the U.S. renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries.

The initiative is the U.S. government’s first-ever coordinated effort to support the promotion of renewable energy and energy-efficiency exports. Through the implementation of 23 interagency actions, the initiative is designed to facilitate an increase of RE&EE exports during the next five years, helping to meet the goals of the National Export Initiative and President Obama’s challenge to become the leading exporter of clean-energy technologies.

As part of the initiative, the federal government is launching an online portal to provide renewable-energy companies access to U.S. government export resources, and the Commerce Department is committing to an increased number of RE&EE trade and trade-policy missions. The report is available for download from the web portal at www.export.gov/reee.